ROMANCE

<p><br></p><p><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><p><strong><em>Romance: The Only Life</em></strong></em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> by poet Kevin McGrath published by Saint Julian Press unfolds like a whispered conversation between the poet and the ineffable. The collection takes a contemplative approach to the notion of romance-not merely as a sentiment reserved for lovers but as an elemental force shaping the way we move through the world. The book's title suggests that romance in all its sprawling meanings might just be the central current that makes life worth living.</p></span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><p>Divided into a series of compact numbered poems <em></span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Romance</em></em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> resists the temptation to over-explain or embellish. The poems often spare in language invite the reader to pause to reflect and to find resonance in what is unsaid. There's a quiet power in this restraint as the collection meanders through themes of connection spirituality and the sensuality of existence offering glimpses rather than declarations. Each poem pared down to its essential elements feels like a small meditation-on a moment a relationship a thought.</p></span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><p>This is not a book of love poems at least not in the conventional sense. The romance here is larger encompassing our relationship with nature with the divine with the self. It's the romance of being alive of noticing of breathing into the spaces where life unfolds unexpectedly. These poems suggest that romance is not something we find; it is something we cultivate an ethos to carry through the day.</p></span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><p>And yet there is intimacy here. The poet speaks directly as if leaning in revealing these truths with a delicate touch. There is no grandiosity no sweeping declarations just the simple act of observing the world with an open heart. It's an invitation to the reader: to slow down to listen more closely to rediscover the beauty in the ordinary.</p></span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><p>For readers accustomed to poetry that drips with overt emotion or elaborate form <em></span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Romance: The Only Life</em></em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> may feel like a reprieve. Its understated style allows for a deeper engagement with the subject matter as though each poem is merely a doorway to something much larger-a feeling a memory a revelation. It is a book that doesn't ask to be understood so much as experienced.</p></span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><p>In the end <em></span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Romance</em></em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> offers its readers a gift: a chance to find the extraordinary in the everyday to see romance as a way of being rather than an outcome to chase. It is a quiet beautiful collection that speaks to those who understand that the most profound connections often arise from the simplest moments.</p></span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>